BEND, Ore. (AP) — Bend gas station owner Kent Couch who floated to Idaho in 2008 in a lawn chair is planning another cluster balloon adventure — in Baghdad.
Couch told KTVZ (http://bit.ly/rsFqas ) he was invited by Iraqi daredevil Fareed Lafta who wants to lift off with him Nov. 15 at a Talent for Youth Conference in the Green Zone.
Couch says he’s working with U.S. and Iraqi military to make sure they’ll be secure on what he hopes will be a flight of more than 400 miles at an elevation of 25,000 feet, using oxygen masks.
Couch says he fears entering Iran and would set down right away if the balloons drift that direction.